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Board Game Review: Showdown!

You might’ve noticed we’ve begun to add a lot of new features here at The Weekly Spoon. Some of these things include conventions and board games! Board game reviews will be structured a little differently and are intended to be succinct enough to give you a good idea if you’d like to buy the game yourself.

< 5 = poor concept and execution
5 = the game is average, nothing you haven’t seen before (all games start this tier!)
6 = the game presents some new twists and is a bit better than your average
7 = the game is pretty unique but it works
8 = it was impressive
9 = yes absolutely
10 = this is an extremely rare rating, it would mean the game has absolutely no problems which is generally not true for anything

For this particular set of reviews, copies of the game were provided by the developers for review. All opinions here are my own and not in any way sponsored or paid for by the developer.

Overview

Showdown! The Samurai Card Game is a dueling card game for 2-6 players. The goal of the game is become the most powerful samurai or shogun in a series of rounds and beat out your opponents. You play by giving out a hand to each player and then putting the deck in the middle. Players flip cards in the middle deck, revealing a card they make take or pass. They may also pull a mystery card from the deck itself. They then discard back down to the proper hand size. The goal is to build the best arsenal of weapon, title, notoriety. Then the gameplay repeats, which the next player flipping another card. You may never take a card that was used, discarded, or revealed on the last player’s turn. This continues round robin until a duel card is hit. The player who drew the card picks another player to duel. They play one weapon, title, notoriety from their hand to try and beat the other player. Along with various special cards in the deck, this can either be tragic or amazing!

Packaging – 6

It’s a simple card box, which is perfect for the game inside. It’s a good size for purse or pocket.

Design – 8

This game is absolutely gorgeous and the cards are extremely easy to read. Cards also have titles and numbers on both sides, so it’s easy for both players to see the card without reaching to turn it over. There is little to no confusion about the meaning or intention of any of the cards. I also really like that you can integrate the cards with their other game, Shootout, meaning you’d have samurais fighting cowboys! Very fun!

Approachability – 8

This game can be learned in five minutes. Easy. No questions. I’ve been told that at the PAXU booth, the devs were a bit overwhelmed with interest and a 9 year old boy, who had learned the game, started running demos with them. Easy to learn, fun to master!

Replayability – 9

I think we played 3 rounds before we realized we could stop. We didn’t want to! The rounds are quick, duels happen pretty regularly and are well distributed. You never know when you’ll be on the chopping block next.

Enjoyment – 8

Yes. Pick up this game. I don’t care if you don’t like samurai. Pick up the cowboy one then. Either way, do it. We had so much fun! It’s a great quick grab for car rides, kids, restaurants, gameday, anything you can think of.

Score: 8

Showdown! Is a fast paced easy to learn card game that’s great for kids, casuals, and hardcore gamers alike. With great replayability and ease of transport, there’s no reason not to pick this up for your collection.